Rail anchor



Oct. 7, 1930. 'A..-'F. FIFIIELD 1,777,750

' R IL Aucubn.

Filed Get. as, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR A. F. FIFIELD RAIL ANCHOR 7 Filed Oct. 26, 192B 2 Shuts-Shoot 2 l VENEBF 1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Qct. 7, 1930 UNITEDQSTATES A T O F CE ALBERT FJFIFIELD, OF c' 'fifiARINEs, ONTARIO, CANADA, AssieNOE mo THE A E ICA roe-K & HOEJCOMYANY, OF CLEVELAND? OHIOQjjAhCOBPOB -ATIO N 'F' HIO 1 RAIL ANCHOR Appliea tien filed 00101565216, 1928. Ser'ialno.1 315 165. i h

My intei tipn relates te raihahehers arid relates partleuiarly to' one-piece rail anchors. An obgect of my inventienis to proyide'a rail anchorot the o11e-pieeetype, Which may 5 be relatively inexpensively made from spiihg I steel in either red er sheet form jandyet which will be relatively efliciehtizijise when attached to 2p rail hase'Y fer preventing longi tudinel movement of the rail relative "the w supportstherefer. H i e it i 1 Another object of my ih-yehtieh is to pro-i Vide a rail anehor of the h-piece type Whili simple filhenipulation of the Usual type bf 5t001s commonly had'bytrack men, r

AllOiJhQI' object of my invention is teipre; vide e rail anchor; which, although easily applied to a rail bajse and strongly resisting longitudinal'movenient of the rail towhich itis affixed and resisting accidental remeval when iii usefyet lhay be eisilyflremoved by agsimlple manipuletlori of the orchneiry teqls 529 61119 113 2 9 i 93; i it i lt Jew? I Mamet; n twi ted t a rtil haviiig a base 2 cbmprisi'lig leteij l H flanges 3 audit. [The flaiigesfalfeof pi'bgl essivly decreased thickness their tical edges "5.3 The @ailie ehehof the embedim'ei t il: lustr'ated comprises" a single pie'eeiof. spring steel ifhthe fqrm'bf a felatively flat strip hat? 'e' an in rm a e e ch p r nflT depl ed to extehd transversely of the Iai1'l'1'ase2 underlying thereil base, and is fermeiwith 0 a; hqok Sjat one; eiid and :1, 1001919 at the other 1 f and. The hook, '8 'c omprises;;a} tongue: 9" adapted j to] engage ;.by its lower sulita ce IO .Withtheil pper s'uri'aeell of a-fail base flgilige sueh as 43am Whiehfengages by its lowyer surface the upper, sm fzieeflllu 0t ja-thef bar u nder1ying the tofigtle 9 1 The edges fef the base fiangec ahutthe inheiflportiehs efthe hook 8 adjacent the 'eu rved portion (The relative pbsitior bf thebar TwithitslhoQkS to the fail base fi agnge is illustrated j igEig,

t qth en ,9 new s e th me sieel extendlng upwartl r, H2 1 L- 1', L i s keiiexie axed? is l revi w-110s watt-fi t of the pendant J-loop, the arm 18 ve s e we 9 W w ay with. at eqlss t:

i het eumt g lgx emndi efin s e" 16 F the tie and the rail to withstand the shocks and pressures tending to wear the tie and to move the anchor.

The anchor is applied to the rail by giving it a preliminary twist and deflection,.

against the power of its inherent resiliency, by lifting the loop 9' by its lift strap top portion 13 by a tool such as 25 projected through the opening 26, provided below the lift strap? portion 13, and between the arms 17 and 18. The tip 27 of the tool is used as a pry or fulcrum against the upper surface 28 of the rail base flange 3. The anchor is thus secured tightly to the railbase by effecting an engagement of the two pairs of jaws 19-20" with the top, and bottom surfaces of the rail base flange 3, as shown in Figs1and4.

In practice, whenever the rail, dueto tr'aflic thereon, is caused to move longitudinally, the rail'base will be tightly gripped by the jaws at, the two ends of the anchor, compris ing the jaws formed by the inner opposing surfaces 30. and 31 of the loop 8, engaging the upper and lower surfaces respectively of the rail base flange l, and that one of the spaced pairs of jaws 19 01"20 which is formed in that, arm 17 or 18 of the J-shaped loop at the other end ofthe bar which is other than the arm engaging the tie 24:. i

In other words, the pressure engagement of. the lower portion of the arm 17, for instance, with a lateral surface of the tie, effects a slight sluing of the anchor around the hooked end 8, and effects a binding gripping engagement of the rail base flange, by the pair of jaws ofthe loop 8 and the pair of Jaws 1'9, and 20 of the arm 18. At the same time, due to the resiliency of the loop and twisted. support therefor, the jaws of the arm 1'? also effect gripping contact with the rail base flange.

Having thus described my invention in connection with an anchor which is one e1nbodiment thereof, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodiment herein illustrated and described but without departing from'the spirit of my invention.

Iclaim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a single strip of spring steel formed witha hook at one of its free ends, adaptedfto embracingly engage the top and bottom surfaces of a rail base flange and formed at the other end in an upstanding arm, a loop depending from an upper portion of said upstanding arm, the loop comprising lateral arms disposed at either side of the said upstanding arm, and a portion joining the lower ends of the lateral arms underlying said upstanding arm, each of said lateral arms having rail flange engaging edge portions forming jaw elements adapted to resiliently grippingly engage. the

J other rail base flange.

2. A rail anchor comprising an upstanding resilient J-shaped loop of spring steel material, a bar extending downwardly from the top end of the longer arm of the loop between the arms and deflected laterally therefrom to form an elongated reach bar portion adapted for disposition below the base of a rail, said reach bar portion terminating in an upwardly and: inwardly extending hook, the free end of the hook comprising a tongue adapted for engagement with the upper surface of a rail base, said J-shaped loop adapted for engagement by both of its arms with the opposite rail base flange, said flange engaging loop portions adapted to engage an upper surface portion of said opposite rail base flange, to retain the anchor on the rail base.

3. A rail anchor comprising an upstanding, resilient Jshaped loop of spring steel material, a bar extending downwardly from the top end of the longer arm of the loop between the arms and deflected laterally therefrom to form an elongated reach bar portion adapted for disposition below the base of a rail, said reach bar portion terminating in an upwardly and inwardly extending hook, the free end of the hook comprising a tongue adapted for engagement with the upper surface of a rail base, both arms of said loop having laterally aligned notches on their inner edge portions, both said notches adapted to receive longitudinally spaced portions of the adjacent rail base flange.

4. A rail anchor comprising a single strip of spring steel formed with a hook at one of its free ends, adapted to embracingly en gage the top and bottom surfaces of a rail base flange and formed at the other end in an upstanding arm, a loop depending from an upper portion of said upstanding arm, the loop comprising lateral arms disposed at either side of the said upstanding arm, and a portion oining the lower ends of the lateral arms underlying said upstanding arm, each of said lateral arms having rail flange engag ing edge portions comprising cooperating jaw elements adapted to resiliently grippingly engage an upper corner edge and a lateral surface, of the other rail base flange.

5. A rail anchor formed of a single strip of material of substantially uniform width through its length, bent to engage an ed of a rail base at three points spaced in the direction. of the rail length and to provide a resilient loop adapted to be tensioned upon operative assembly of the anchor on a railto maintain the engagement, and terminating in a second loop pendant from an arm of the first loop and engaging by edge portions with an edge portion of the rail base flange.

6. A rail anchor comprising a flat strip of metal bent at one end. to engage one flange of a rail base and bent toward the opposite end to upright U-form. to engage, at two points spaced in the length of the strip, with the'other flange of a rail base at two points spaced inthe length of the rail base.

7-. A rail anchor comprising a flat strip being bent intermediate its ends to form an inverted resilient loop and being further a i bent to provide a U-shaped portion embracing said loopand adapted to engage the other flange of a rail base at points spaced -b inthe length of said flange.

. 9. A rail anchor comprising a jmetalformed toward one end with a pair of laterally extending spaced notches in one edge thereof and hooked at the'opposite end to engage one flange of a rail'base, the said strip being bent intermediate its ends ,to

provide aninvertedresilient loop "and further bent to dispose the notched portions 011 opposite sides ofthe loop and spaced lengthwise of the rail flange and in position to receive the other flange of therail base in the notches thereof.

10. A rail anchor comprising a strip of .meta] formed toward one end to extend lengthwise above and below a rail base to engage edgewise withone flange of a rail base at points spaced in the length thereof, the said strip being bent to form an upright resilient loop, and an arm extending from a pendant arm of the loop transversely beneath the rail base and a hook at the end of the arm adapated to'engage flatwise of the strip with the other flange ofthe rail base. 11. A rail anchor comprising a flat strip of metal formed with a pair ofspaced notches in one edge thereof, said strip being bent intermediate the notches to substantially upright U-form and to locate the notches in position to receive portions of a rail base flange spaced in the lengththereof, said strip being bent to inverted looped form beyond the notches thereof'and adapted to extend transversely beneath a rail base and hooked to flatwise engage theother flange of a rail .base,

rail base, the longer of said arms being reversely bent to form an inverted loop and a pendant portion adapted to extend transversely beneath a rail base and to occupy a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the rail base, and a hook atthe extremity of saidstrip adapted to engage the other flange of the rail base.

13. A rail anchor formed of'a single strip of material comprising a pair of arms eac notched to embrace one flange of a rail base,

a web disposed below the railbase connecting the arms and an extension from one ofj said arms twisted through approximatelyr and bent through approximately 90 and passing between and beyond the arms, and a hook at the extremity of said extenslon adapted to engage the other flange of a rail ase. 14. A rail anchor formed of a single strip of material comprising a pair of substantially parallel arms of unequallength each.

notched to embrace one flange of a rail base, a web disposed below the rail base flange connecting corresponding ends of the arms, the longer of said arms being bent to form an inverted loop,.a reach arm adapted to be flexed and to thrust upwardly against the lower surface of the rail base, saidarm extending from a lower end of said loop, and a hook at the extremity of said reach arm adapted to en age the edge of the other flange V i of a rail base and to be held in such engage- V ment bythe upward thrust of the arm.

15. A rail anchor formed of a single substantially straight-edged strip of material bent to engage a rail base at three oints spaced in the length thereof, two o said points of engagement being with one base flange and the other point being with the other base flange longitudinally intermedi ate the first two points of engagement, the" said strip being further formed to provide an inverted loop shrouded between the two anchor portions engaging one base'flange and to be tensioned by the engagementof the third anchor portion with the other base flange, thereby to maintain engagement of the anchor with the rail.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 24th day of October, 1928. ALBERT F. FIFIELD.

12. A railanchor comprising aflat strip of metal formed toward one end with a pair of notches spaced in one edge thereof, the

notched portion of said strip being bent to substantially upright U-form to providea pairof spaced arms of unequal length adapted to receive one flange of a" rail base in the notches thereof and adapted in operation to be disposed in substantially parallel planes substantially perpendicular to the plane of a 

